Wednesday, April 4

What threat? I Made You a Ricotta Pie.

When I think of Easter, I think of pies. Not chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps, or colorful Easter eggs, but delicious Italian pies, especially ricotta.

Growing up, my mom always prepared a traditional and labor intensive Easter dinner. In truth, she could have skipped the whole thing and just served her pies. In the week before Easter Sunday, our house became a dairy. The shelves in the second refrigerator in our basement sagged from countless dozens of eggs, pints of cream, pounds of butter, and tubs of ricotta cheese needed for our pie production.

Although it can be made year-round, ricotta pie (torta di ricotta) is an Italian cheesecake that is especially associated with Easter. There are many regional recipes for ricotta pie, some savory and some sweet. Savory versions usually include meats and additional cheeses, while sweet pies are typically flavored with citrus, nuts, and chocolate.

When I called my mom for her recipe last week, I learned that it was Nan's and that it had a storied past. “Nan was the first person in the family to use pineapple instead of citron in her ricotta pie. And boy were her sisters jealous!” I had no idea Nan was a baking maverick.

Rumor has it that Nan thought her sisters' pies were “too dark” because they used that “awful citron.” (Nan was never one to mince words.) In 1945 she dropped her own bomb on Easter Sunday by showing up to dinner with her new-fangled ricotta pie with pineapple. It was as yellow as an Easter chick. There were mumblings in Italian and raised eyebrows among the women. When dessert time came, all the men agreed: Nan's pie was the best--beautiful and sweet. The women conceded victory. Well, that's the way Nan would tell it anyway.

My family has been enjoying this ricotta pie recipe for the past 62 Easters. It really is a treat. We would eat it for breakfast (along with the rice pie and pizza gain) every morning the week after Easter. It apparently can even be used to get your child into college. In an episode of The Soprano’s, Carmela tries to bribe a woman to write a letter of recommendation for Meadow.

Carmela: "Threat, what threatening? I brought you a ricotta pie and high school transcripts so you could write a letter of recommendation for my little daughter to Georgetown."

I still laugh every time I see that scene. If the mob uses pineapple ricotta pie to muscle people, then it must be something special.

This was my first ricotta pie. My mom told me it’s the “easiest Easter dessert to make.” It was, except that my crust needs a little work. It wasn’t as beautiful as Mom’s, but the texture of the pie was like hers: rich, dense, and velvety ricotta that holds its shape perfectly when sliced.

Italian Ricotta Pie with PineapplePrint recipe only here. (NOTE: The print version of this recipe had errors in it and has been changed. My apologies to those of you who ended up with "too much filling.")

Pie Crust:

For the last few years, my mom has used Nick Malgieri’s crust recipe from his cookbook How to Bake, so that’s what I used. This recipe will make 2 (two) 9-inch crusts. This ricotta pie uses only a bottom crust, so you will have enough dough for a second pie.

For the dough, combine the dry ingredients in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse several times to mix. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times to mix the butter in finely. Add the eggs and pulse repeatedly until the dough forms a ball. Invert the dough to a floured work surface and carefully remove the blade. Wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it while preparing the filling. You may keep the dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before continuing.

If like me, you don’t have a processor, then follow these instructions: Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add chunks of the chilled butter. Using a pastry blender or two forks, chop the butter until it resembles little pebbles. At this point, add the eggs, and stir with a spoon until the dough begins to form. Using your hands and working the dough as little as you can, form a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill for about 20 minutes before rolling out. You may keep the dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before continuing.

For the filling, place the ricotta in one strainer and the pineapple in another for at least 1-1/2 hours, or preferably overnight. Discard the liquids. This will create a thicker pie filling and keep the crust crispier. Add the ricotta to a large mixing bowl, and beat it smooth with a rubber spatula. Beat in the heavy cream, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, making sure the texture is smooth. Finally, stir in the pineapple.

When you are ready to bake, set a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and gently knead it on a floured surface until it is smooth and malleable. Roll the dough into a 10-inch disk.

Coat the pie plate with cooking spray. Transfer the dough to the prepared plate and press well into the bottom and sides of the plate. Use the back of a knife to remove the excess dough at the rim of the plate. Create a crust by pinching the dough between your thumb and forefinger.

When you are ready to bake the pie, place the pie plate on the oven rack, then pour the filling inside the pie crust. (Mom’s sage advice for not spilling the filling.) Pour right to the top of the pie plate leaving just a bit of room for the filling to puff up. Sprinkle the top of the pie with ground cinnamon. If you have some extra filling left over as I did, you can pour it into a small baking dish or ramekins for a crustless version, and follow the same baking instructions. Or you can simply discard.

Bake the pie at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake another 25-35 minutes. The filling should beslightly puffed and golden and “set,” meaning it should be firm not jiggly when you gently move the pie plate. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

68 comments:

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your caring comments and sound advice. You can’t imagine how much better your thoughtful remarks made me feel. I took many of your suggestions, and somewhere in the mix of Eastern and Western medicine, my problem is nearly resolved. I can’t wait to begin visiting you all again.

Glad to hear that you're feeling a bit better now, Susan!Interesting to read about ricotta cakes being the centrepiece in Italy during Easter. It's the same in Estonia - we eat lots of (poultry!) eggs AND a lot of curd cheese, which is very similar to ricotta. When living in Scotland, I was very confused with the centrality of chocolate during Easter, and I'm glad to see that this hasn't really happened here yet.I was thinking of including oranges in my ricotta/curd cheese cake this year, but I'm tempted to use pineapple now:-)

Susan, welcome back! :)Your nan should be a great woman, I just loved your story! The torta di ricotta really is a classic Italian pie, one of my favourites ever. I make it all over the year, but for Easter sunday I make a different version, called "Pastiera napoletana". It's typical from Naples (south of Italy) and it also has candied peels, boiled wheat, and orange blossom's water in the filling. I liked your version with pineapple, I should try it soon!!

Welcome back, Susan! I was delighted to see a comment from you on my latest post--and even better to find a new post from you here.

Nan and her sisters sound like a lively crew. Tales of sibling rivalry among older relatives can be so entertaining. My grandmother and my great aunt always seemed to be picking and sniping at each other at family gatherings. But come New Year's Eve, they would always sit at the kitchen table, drinking highballs and happily sharing stories of childhood on the farm.

What a comeback recipe. It's Passover in my house, so no pie-crusts. I'm afraid it will have to wait until next week (well I'm not Jewish, but a whole pie, eaten on my own would seem a bit excessive and cruel to those being observant - it sounds so wonderful).

This looks divine. And I love your nan's trail-blazing sense of style.

"Yellow as an Easter Chick!" You make me smile, and have gotten me into the spirit of the season! I've only just started experimenting with sweet ricotta pie and the results are so delicious -- what an easy and beautiful way to celebrate the holiday. Glad you are on the mend!

I am very excited that you have posted this recipe, since I am headed to my fiance's very italian family easter celebration (I am Jewish) this weekend. I need to bring something and I haven't a clue what to bring. They've got dessert covered but now you've got me headed on the right track: a savory version of this sounds perfect.

Although my family's recipe is slightly different.. we put the rice in along with the ricotta and sometimes we don't even make a crust - weird, eh? But we do everything else the same right down to the vanilla, pineapple and cinnamon. :D

Glad to see you back Susan!Oh I love your Nan's story! Love to hear how theose people reacted after saw her pie, proporly Nan unable to hide her triumphant grin :) :) Susan, I've read one of the books written by Nick Malgier, an old one though, he looked so thin (kekee). Very techincal, but very good. I know your pie recipe must be a good one! Hey, your crust... where is the imperfection? :)I'm going to make pasqualina on Saturday, my first time *cross finger*Happy Easter!

Susan you did come back with a bang..enjoyed reading about your family traditions and also about ur nan..hmm...me too made a post recently on one of my grandma's signature dish as I was missing her badly...

I'm glad you're feeling better, Susan! And I love this story about your grandma and how she changed the ricotta pie recipe- from the looks of it, for the better.

Oh, and I just wanted to let you know that your brussels sprouts have become quite a food meme! I keep getting emails or comments that people have made it and have been amazed at how much they liked it. All the credit goes to you, of course!

I'm glad you're feeling better, we missed you here in the food bloggie world! I have a hard time getting my recipes to come out just like my Mom's but oh well, what can you do? Your pie looks quite delicious though. I'd love to taste it!

Not only does it look delish, but I am flattered most that you share some of your most treasured possessins, family recipes. They hold our most precious memories and help others on their way to creating their own! Keep em coming!

Okay I made this last night and it was tasty, and well-loved by my thirteen year-old ricotta junkie. It did, however, make much more than I thought--2 9" pies but a ramekin left over. This isn't necessarily bad though. :)

I've bookmarked this pie post !! I simply love pies, especially something different like this one, and love all cheese, and have not try riccota cheese before :( One question, does the cheese comes in like the regular packaged cheese, where do I look in the market ?

Ricotta pies, pastiera and cheesecakes are such a treat for me, and this one looks gorgeous... what an amazing pie! I really like your blog, great pictures and tasty recipes too! Greetings from Italy! :)

susan - glad to see your up and running again. hope you are feeling tons better -- you were missed. this pie looks so wonderful. how come my italian relatives never prepared this! they would always make fried ricotta though... not a fan myself (im scared of fried things!)

this looks amazing, and i can't wait to try it -- maybe i'll make it for my family next year.

This is a very good pie, I just love ricotta pie but I never tried with pineapple. This reminds me a lot of my favorite ricotta pie called PASTIERA, it is a typical Easter ricotta pie from Neaples... I will post the recipe soon. Every family in Italy has pastiera on the table at Easter... do you know it? Where does you family come form in Italy?Ciao.

I was surfing for a Ricotta Pie receipe so we could have a Last Soprano's watch party. My husband always wants spagetti or some pasta dish after watching. I said I'd make him one of Carm's Ricot pies for the party. (I remember the quote too!)Yours looks great I'm sure everyone will enjoy it, or else.

Hi Connie-I would think so; I can't imagine what else it could be. I think I'm going to make the recipe again to double check because I didn't have that much leftover. If I need to change it, I will. I want to make sure it's correct, after all. Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. -Susan

FYI -- the print version of the recipe at http://foodblogga.googlepages.com/italianricottapie has different measurements. Looks like some, but not all, of the ingredients are doubled for two pies. Maybe this is why some commenters (including me) had way more filling than we expected?

Thank you so much. My boss is Italian and we just celebrated his 25th year with the company. I made these pies as part of his celebration lunch and those who have had them before raved about them. Just like Nona's!

I've never had the pie before myself, but was intrigued when Carmella gave one to her neighbor. Now I know. It's not a threat, it's a ricotta pie!

I found this recipe thee other day and had to try it. I am NOT a baker (my wife is). I do everything else but bake!

This is the first crust I have ever made and it was easy! The Ricotta filling with the pineapple is amazing. We have a local Italian cheese store so I was able to score some very fresh ricotta. It was excellent - thank you for posting Nan's recipe!!

I believe their orgins to thisricotta pie are ancient jewish roman's dish or Sephardic Jewish.Their are a lot of similaritiesto recipies such as Marzipan,biscotti. sesame cookies,fried dough w/ sugar or honey. Tosephardic recipies. Sicily And Naples had a very jewish Communite up until the Spanish Inquisition

Susan, as always,I enjoy reading your posts--I feel like part of the family. Your ricotta pie with pineapple sounds wonderful! I linked to this post in my version of the Argentine Tarta de Ricota! Enjoy!